Family survives as minimalists

The Hughes family lives by candlelight at night because their 80-acre homestead is electricity and petroleum free. They and the other inhabitants of the Possibility Alliance use an outhouse, grow their own food and choose to live well under the poverty line at less than $3,000 a year.

Yet founder Ethan Hughes said he feels that they live like kings and queens.

The Possibility Alliance is a center on the outskirts of La Plata where Hughes, his wife Sarah and their daughter live. The vast, grassy landscape surrounding the Hughes' home radiates an aura of peace. No white noise permeates the air - just the sounds of wind and bustling livestock. The only structures are the Hughes' house, a barn and a few homemade clay formations, like an outdoor kitchen.

Why does this family forego the most salient aspects of the modern lifestyle? Hughes' answer is simple: To live so all people and life can thrive.

"Every decision we make [is a question of], 'how is it going to affect the ducks over there, pond?' 'How is it going to affect our water?' 'How's it going to affect someone in a war zone?' 'How is it going to affect someone in a sweatshop?'" Hughes said.

Before founding the Possibility Alliance two and a half years ago, Ethan and Sarah Hughes lived in a peace community called the Ark in France started by one of Gandhi's followers. The community grew its own food, gave it to the poor, worked for peace and hosted people around the world for free.

"That project really informed us of what was possible," Ethan Hughes said.

The Hughes became inspired to start a similar project in the United States. A week after sending out a prayer for a site, a friend found a perfect location in La Plata. After purchasing the land via donations without even seeing it first, the Hughes took a boat to Florida and rode their bikes to La Plata.

Various residents and interns usually reside on the property, and visitors are frequent - this year the Alliance hosted 1,400 people, including Truman students and visitors from Israel and Romania. Some are intrigued by the Alliance's policy of "radical simplicity," and others admire their service-oriented lifestyle. From Christian youth groups to atheist activists, no one is ever turned away.

"Everyone is sacred," Hughes said. "If we turn one person away, we turn the whole world away."

The center strives to embody the principle of "radical simplicity," which entails remaining free from electricity and petroleum, leaving the Possibility Alliance with one of the lowest carbon footprints in the country. Thus, they have no modern conveniences, such as computers, cell phones or stereos.

Hughes said that although he misses a few luxuries, like sci-fi movies, he wouldn't trade his lifestyle for anything.

"I know that if [the roof] fell on me right now, I would be content," he said. "I feel like I'm living my life to the fullest, and I go to bed feeling very content. I see that what a lot of people are lacking is not food, shelter or clothing. I have friends who have their Ph.D's, and they're not content. I think content means living everything that's in our heart, no matter what the risk."

Service and activism are other important guiding principles of the Possibility Alliance. The Alliance is the headquarters for the Superheroes, a network of 500 people who bike around the country wearing superhero costumes, offering a helping hand to whomever they find. Service for the Alliance entails biking around to distribute turkeys to the poor on Thanksgiving or helping a neighbor build up his house after it burns down.

Activism enables the Alliance to support the causes it believes in, such as Truman's bike co-op, standing up for local farmers' rights and giving support and guidance to Truman's community garden. The Alliance bought 100 bikes for Truman's bike co-op and trained the mechanics when it started.

Inner work and gratitude comprise the rest of the guiding principles. These involve becoming more loving and humble and refraining from placing judgment on the world. Love is such a guiding principle that it simply cannot coexist with judgment, Hughes said. Instead, the Alliance simply attempts to live according to its vision.

"When someone shows up here, we don't tell them what to do," he said. "We say, 'What's in your heart?'"

The Alliance runs on a gift economy, which means they don't charge for any services or items they offer to others, including internships or programs such as Permaculture certification. The center runs entirely from donations. Because of their simple lifestyle, Hughes said they have moved hundreds of thousands of dollars toward outside programs and people who need support.

"So much of mainstream society says, 'What's going to be your job when you graduate? How are you going to feed yourself?'" Hughes said. "Instead, I want to help people and love people and trust that I'll be taken care of."

Steven De La Rosa currently is living at the Possibility Alliance for a month to properly learn how they live. He hopes to start a similar center elsewhere with his partner.

In addition to the various skills he will learn, like how to raise chickens or skin a deer, he said he simply hopes to learn how to function in an alternative lifestyle.

"A lot is just coming from their energy and volition," he said. "This is the place I've seen this done to the greatest extent - no electricity, not having much impact. We're seeing that it's doable."

Senior Will Erker frequently visits the Possibility Alliance and hopes to land an internship there during the summer. When he mentioned that he wanted to raise some chickens last summer, he was caught off guard when they offered him chickens for free.

"They said I could have some, and I said, 'Yeah, I'd love to buy them from you,'" Erker said. "I didn't realize at that time that that's how they operated, and I had to realize that they actually wanted to give me these chickens. No return expected."